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FEUD BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN WORSENS
Gulf Times
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=510346&version=1&templ ate_id=39&parent_id=21
June 6 2012
Qatar
Armenian forces killed five Azerbaijani soldiers in a border clash
yesterday in a new flaring of tensions as US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton visits the volatile Caucasus region.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry said fighting broke out when
"a group of Armenian saboteurs made an attempt to penetrate the
military positions of the national army" in the country's northwest
- the second reported outbreak of deadly violence along the border
between the ex-Soviet enemies this week.
"During the fight, four soldiers of the Azerbaijani armed forces were
killed and another died as a result of the Armenians opening fire,"
the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia however blamed Azerbaijan for causing the violence, saying
that "a subversive group of 15 to 20 people attempted to infiltrate
Armenian territory".
"Thanks to the vigilance of the Armenian servicemen, the group was
discovered and neutralised. Five were killed and many others wounded
from the Azerbaijani side," the Armenian defence ministry said in a
statement, adding that none of its troops were injured.
On Monday, Armenia alleged that Azerbaijani forces had killed three of
its soldiers and wounded six more when an attempted military incursion
ended in a firefight on the border, a report Baku denied.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a long-running conflict over the
territory of Nagorny Karabakh, where they fought a war in the 1990s
that killed some 30,000 people.
Unusually, this week's clashes erupted well to the north of the
disputed region.
According to Azerbaijan's defence ministry, yesterday's violence hit
the region west of the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh. The deadly clashes
on Monday also took place nearby.
Visiting Yerevan on Monday, Clinton said that she was concerned by
the rising tensions and warned Armenia and Azerbaijan not to settle
their conflict by force.
"I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions and
the senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians," she
said after Monday's violence. "The use of force will not resolve the
Nagorny Karabakh conflict and therefore force must not be used."
The Karabakh war saw Armenia-backed separatists seize the mountainous
enclave from Azerbaijan amid a bitter struggle that caused hundreds
of thousands of people to flee their homes in both countries.
Despite years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have not yet signed a final peace deal and there are still frequent
exchanges of gunfire along the front line.
Azerbaijan has threatened to use force to win back Karabakh if peace
talks fail to yield satisfactory results, but Armenia has warned of
large-scale retaliation against any military action.
Today Clinton is due to visit Baku, where officials said that finding
a resolution to the Karabakh conflict would be the main topic of
discussion.
"We expect good results from the meeting with Clinton," Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists.
Mammadyarov blamed Yerevan for thwarting progress toward a peace deal,
saying that "sometimes we cannot understand the Armenian side's logic".
The latest round of negotiations in Russia in January ended with
promises to speed up the process but failed to make any visible steps
toward signing a "basic principles" roadmap agreement, seen as key
to any settlement.
Gulf Times
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=510346&version=1&templ ate_id=39&parent_id=21
June 6 2012
Qatar
Armenian forces killed five Azerbaijani soldiers in a border clash
yesterday in a new flaring of tensions as US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton visits the volatile Caucasus region.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry said fighting broke out when
"a group of Armenian saboteurs made an attempt to penetrate the
military positions of the national army" in the country's northwest
- the second reported outbreak of deadly violence along the border
between the ex-Soviet enemies this week.
"During the fight, four soldiers of the Azerbaijani armed forces were
killed and another died as a result of the Armenians opening fire,"
the ministry said in a statement.
Armenia however blamed Azerbaijan for causing the violence, saying
that "a subversive group of 15 to 20 people attempted to infiltrate
Armenian territory".
"Thanks to the vigilance of the Armenian servicemen, the group was
discovered and neutralised. Five were killed and many others wounded
from the Azerbaijani side," the Armenian defence ministry said in a
statement, adding that none of its troops were injured.
On Monday, Armenia alleged that Azerbaijani forces had killed three of
its soldiers and wounded six more when an attempted military incursion
ended in a firefight on the border, a report Baku denied.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a long-running conflict over the
territory of Nagorny Karabakh, where they fought a war in the 1990s
that killed some 30,000 people.
Unusually, this week's clashes erupted well to the north of the
disputed region.
According to Azerbaijan's defence ministry, yesterday's violence hit
the region west of the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh. The deadly clashes
on Monday also took place nearby.
Visiting Yerevan on Monday, Clinton said that she was concerned by
the rising tensions and warned Armenia and Azerbaijan not to settle
their conflict by force.
"I am very concerned about the danger of escalation of tensions and
the senseless deaths of young soldiers and innocent civilians," she
said after Monday's violence. "The use of force will not resolve the
Nagorny Karabakh conflict and therefore force must not be used."
The Karabakh war saw Armenia-backed separatists seize the mountainous
enclave from Azerbaijan amid a bitter struggle that caused hundreds
of thousands of people to flee their homes in both countries.
Despite years of negotiations since the 1994 ceasefire, the two sides
have not yet signed a final peace deal and there are still frequent
exchanges of gunfire along the front line.
Azerbaijan has threatened to use force to win back Karabakh if peace
talks fail to yield satisfactory results, but Armenia has warned of
large-scale retaliation against any military action.
Today Clinton is due to visit Baku, where officials said that finding
a resolution to the Karabakh conflict would be the main topic of
discussion.
"We expect good results from the meeting with Clinton," Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists.
Mammadyarov blamed Yerevan for thwarting progress toward a peace deal,
saying that "sometimes we cannot understand the Armenian side's logic".
The latest round of negotiations in Russia in January ended with
promises to speed up the process but failed to make any visible steps
toward signing a "basic principles" roadmap agreement, seen as key
to any settlement.